


Short One Shots

by TUA (IAMS)



Series: Little!Five [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bed-Wetting, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Littles and Caretakers, Nightmares, Protective Siblings, little!five
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27971699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAMS/pseuds/TUA
Summary: Short Little!Five one shots based on tumblr asks!
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Everyone
Series: Little!Five [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048684
Comments: 12
Kudos: 130





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: little!five having nightmares about the apocalypse and waking his siblings up screaming

it’s a _jarring_ scream that wakes luther up in the middle of the night. he leaps out of bed and bumps into diego on his way to fives room-they’re both running in the same direction. klaus, who’s room is closest, has beat them to it. 

he’s already sitting beside a trembling five by the time diego and luther arrive. “everything’s ok baby bear, it was just a bad dream.” klaus reassures him in a soft tone. 

but five is in his “little” headspace and no amount of convincing him that all is well now is working very well. five shudders a stifled sob, covering his face with closed fists. “don’t wanna’ sleep n’more.” 

klaus looks up at his brothers for help. diego grimaces, unsure. “ya gotta go back to sleep bud, it’s late.” he tells him. diego knows for sure five has things he’s doing the next day-he _needs_ his rest. 

“no!” five yells out, his cries growing louder and louder. he finally looks up and reaches his hands out desperately. “stay?” he pleads, tears rolling down his cheeks. 

luther and diego don’t hesitate to make themselves comfortable on fives bed with klaus. “not goin anywhere, five.” diego rests a hand on his shoulder and squeezes gently. “we’re right here.” 

“do you wanna talk about it? what woke you up?” luther suggests softly. 

five shakes his head no. “scary.” he cries. “f-fire. and y-you weren’t there.” 

it’s easy to connect the dots. luther inhales sharply. five is having nightmares about the apocalypse... 

five doesn’t often talk about the decades he spent in isolation, in that hellish wasteland, at least not enough for them to gather much about his time there, other than that it was horribly lonely. luther spent four years in space, all by himself, with sometimes not enough to eat, and only his own thoughts to occupy his mind for the majority of the time. he can’t fathom what four _decades_ must have been like; it’s incomparable, he knows. 

luther gathers five into his arms and rubs his back soothingly. “you’re not there anymore, you’re right here, it’s 2019 and you’re home and we’re all alive, five, thanks to you.” 

five shudders, burying his face against luthers big chest. “don’t go.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: I just read the little snippet of little five being rocked by Luther at the concert, and then I saw the one about him having nightmares, and I got the best idea! They would find out that being rocked soothes five and they would get a rocking chair for his room. I can just imagine them snagging a sobbing five out of bed and rocking him to calm him down and then put him back to sleep

“if you don’t use it in the next month we’ll get rid of it.” they assures five when he complains about the new rocking chair in his room. 

five folds his arms across his chest with a huff. “fine.” he’s determined not to need it. 

so determined, in fact, that when he wakes up in the middle of the night after a horrifying nightmare and the temptation to fall into his “little” headspace and cry out for someone to come get him comes, he forces himself to bite his tongue instead. 

five buries his face into his pillow and lets his tears stain the pillowcase until morning finally comes. 

he spends about two weeks having restless night after restless night and forcing himself to go it alone before the stress finally gets to be too much and he breaks. it’s nearly two in the afternoon on a random tuesday when five bursts into tears in the middle of the kitchen. 

allison drops what she’s doing and leans down, brushing the hair away from fives forehead. “baby, what’s the matter? what happened?” 

five ducks his head and continues to cry. 

allison can see the dark circles under his eyes-can guess what’s been going on. “five, i think maybe you’re a little tired, yeah? let’s go upstairs, ok?” she stands up straight and offers him her hand to hold. 

he reaches out for it like a lifeline and lets her lead him up to his room. “don’t wanna sleep.” he complains half heartedly, lip wobbling. 

“c’mere.” allison sits down on the big comfortable rocking chair and pats her lap. “you don’t have to go to sleep, we can just sit here and i can tell you a story, if you like?” 

five hesitates for all of two seconds before crawling onto his sisters welcoming lap and letting her wrap her arms around him snuggly. “story?” he asks, curious, even as his chest heaves from trying to stifle his own cries. 

“there was once a house,” allison begins softly, smiling when five rests his head atop her shoulder and his sobbing starts to taper off. “and in that house lived seven little boys and girls.” she rocks gently back and forth as she tells made up tales about how happy the little boys and girls were in that home, the adventures they went on and how much fun they had. 

fives head gets heavier and heavier on her shoulder and the little hand clinging to the collar of her shirt loosens until finally it falls down across his belly, his breathing deepening. allison smooths down his hair and leans down to kiss him on the forehead. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: little five with a pacifier!

“What the hell is this?” Five glowers at the room at large. 

Vanya is the only one brave enough to speak up, “It’s a paci-you’re always chewing on random things when you’re in your headspace, so I thought maybe you’d prefer something actually meant for chewing?” 

Five tosses the pacifier so that it lands on the table with a small _thunk_. “You can keep it.” he huffs, and within the blink of an eye he’s gone, teleported elsewhere in the grandiose mansion, without another word. 

Diego scoffs. “Told you he wouldn’t want one.” 

Vanya shrugs. “I’m keeping it, in case he changes his mind. You know how stubborn Five can be.” 

Two days later Five is crying inconsolably, a cranky mess who’s very clearly missed his nap. Luther scoops him up in his arms and tries to rock him to sleep, but Five starts to struggle in his grasp, “No!” he whines, “No!” Five kicks out and pushes away from Luther’s chest as though it’s personally wronged him in some way. 

Luther looks to Ben helplessly. “Um,” Ben finds a stuffed toy and quickly brings it up to Five, “Hey look, it’s Mr. Bear, say ‘hi Mr. Bear’!” he tries, only for the animal to get knocked from his hand and straight to the floor. 

“No!” Five cries, tears rolling down his cheeks. 

Luther continues to bounce him up and down, fruitlessly-at this rate the bouncing is gonna make Five sick, he thinks, rather than calm him down. “Five, you gotta work with us here, what’s wrong? And please don’t just say-”

“No!” Five kicks out again and Luther nearly accidentally drops him. 

“Five!” Luther doesn’t mean to raise his voice, the movement startled him, is all, but Five’s eyes go wide at the sharp tone and if possible, his wailing grows even louder. 

“What’s going on?” Vanya shouts over Five’s crying, putting down her violin case and shrugging off her coat. 

Ben grimaces. “He’s been like this all day, he’s exhausted but he’s refusing to take a nap and nothing’s helped.” 

“I think I know what’ll help.” Vanya starts for the stairs. “It’s in my room, wait one minute.” By the time she returns Five is no less fitful, sobbing uncontrollably in Luthers arms. Vanya walks straight up to them and produces a small red pacifier. “Here, baby boy.” she gently nudges it into Fives open mouth and it’s like a switch has been flipped. 

Five instantly quiets, sucking on the pacifier at first experimentally, and then quickly adjusting to the feel of it. He leans into Luthers large frame, his eyes drooping shut slowly, completely worn out. It’s not long before he’s asleep entirely. 

Vanya smiles at the little, ignoring the gaping looks from Ben and Luther-one of whom whispers, “Witchcraft.” 

Later in the day, when Five wakes up from what might have been the best sleep he’s gotten in-well, shit-fifty plus years? He reluctantly blinks into the kitchen and with red cheeks he hands Vanya back the pacifier. “I cleaned it.” he clears his throat, embarrassed. “Thank you for...the....yeah, you know.” 

“Five, it’s yours,” Vanya hands it back. “You know it’s ok to want comfort items, right?” she doesn’t think he knows, not with the look of surprise that crosses his face when she asks him the question, and it breaks her heart just a little bit. 

“I-” Five gulps, taking the pacifier and running his fingers across the grooves of it and around the rubber tip. “Thanks.” he blinks away before she can say anything in response. Vanya sighs. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: does he have a comfort item/ how’d he get it?

klaus and vanya want to check out a new thrift store that opens nearby and they invite five to come along- “why would i want to do that?” he asks, not looking up from his newspaper that morning. 

klaus says “because it’ll be fun!” just as vanya cuts in with a dry, “you need clothes that aren’t pajamas or your old school uniform, five.” which is what ultimately convinces five to join the duo. 

they grab a shopping cart and five is mostly uninterested as he lets klaus throw in this and that for him, “oooh, this is your size, _and_ your color!” it’s not until they’re passing the toy section in the back of the giant store that fives eye finally catches something of note. 

the gray bunny rabbit has two long tufted ears and a remarkably pink nose-the stitching is a little off-one arm is slightly longer than the other, and it’s legs are too short in comparison to the rest of its body, but five can’t stop looking. 

“that’s a cute bunny.” vanya pops up next to him and five startles out of his mesmerization. “and it’s only a dollar.” she muses. “you want it?” 

five wants to say “no” and also “fuck off” but instead he lets himself get dragged right into his “little” headspace and he goes wide eyed with wonder. “want it.” he mutters softly, his hand going to clutch at the hem of his sisters jacket. “please?” 

vanya is more than happy to get it for him-now that she really stops to think about it, she realizes five doesn’t have anything to play with at home and starts to feel guilty for not having noticed sooner. after that the hargreeves go shopping and end up getting five a variety of toys (blocks, teething rings, wooden trains and cars, dolls, more stuffed animals, etc.) but five’s favorite will always be the odd little gray rabbit from the thrift store. 

he drags the thing around with him everywhere (even outside of his little headspace five actually becomes quite taken by the stupid thing, and keeps it in his backpack when he’s out and about town)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: I was wondering if you would do one for when they find out Five is Little, I think Allison would notice first because she’s a mom (and also because there is not enough Allison and Five in the show and I need more).

“fives been acting...” allison struggles to come up with the right word and finally just settles on, “odd. don’t you think?” 

luther raises a brow at her, confused. “he’s just...like that, no?” 

diego rolls his eyes. “i think she means more than usual.” he shrugs. “he has seemed kinda off recently, but short of another apocalypse hell if i know what’s wrong.” 

allison sighs-why did she think talking to these two half brains would help? she decides to investigate more closely herself-if there is another apocalypse coming, she’d like to be in the loop, thank you very much. 

so in the coming week allison observes five like a hawk-subtly, of course, she doesn’t gawk or follow him around with a magnifying glass or anything absurd like that. 

she just starts noticing somethings. like that at night time instead of the coffee she used to think was in his mug, he’s replaced with warm milk. he takes way too long in the bathroom-longer than klaus, and that for sure isn’t normal... one day she sees him trip while going down the stairs, worried, she runs to help him up-he shakes her off, annoyed, tells her he’s fine-and she rolls her eyes and sighs and points down to his feet. “maybe tie your shoes?” and five looks away, like he’s embarrassed. 

she also notes that he’s been having trouble reading-or perhaps finding the concentration to do so? he spends about ten minutes on the same page, glaring intensely at it before giving up and tossing the book aside. 

nothing is really adding up in allisons head until it does-but no, she thinks, that can’t possibly be it... 

she knocks on his open door to announce her presence one night. “hey five.” 

he looks up from where he is on his bed writing something into his journal. “what? something wrong?” 

“uh, kind of?” allison purses her lips, walks over slowly towards him. “you mind?” she asks, gesturing to his bed. 

he nods, tilting his head. “go ahead.” 

she sits down and faces him. “i think you’re hiding something.” 

five makes a face. “what are you talking about?” 

“look, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but i just wanted you to know that i am here for you and i love you and care about you, ok? you don’t have to deal with everything alone anymore, five. you know that, right?” 

five stares at allison like she’s spouted wings-in awe. quickly, he looks away. “i don’t know what you’re talking about.” he lies. 

but after that it’s allison five starts seeking out when he’s feeling on the verge of a “little” drop, just teetering. 

he blinks into her room one morning while she’s in the middle of doing her hair and she yelps, surprised. “you know the door’s there so you can knock.” she deadpans. but five doesn’t respond, standing there awkwardly in silence for a moment. allison unpins a strand of her curls and turns to look at him. “what’s up? you ok?” 

five shuffles over to her, meek, and nervously mutters, “can you tie my shoes?” 

allison nods slowly and kneels down in front of him to help. she can see he’s been trying with little success-he just hasn’t been able to get the knot right. “there we go.” she says, when she’s finished. “listen, five, if you want to-” but it’s too late, he blinks away, vanishing before her very eyes. she sighs. 

he comes to allison for little things like that-opening jars, buttoning shirts, and even how to read certain words in a book that he’s having trouble with in the moment. 

five comes to her in the middle of the day and he doesn’t say a word, just lifts his arm to show her his elbow and she gasps at the blood. it’s nothing _too_ bad, nothing that won’t heal within a few days, but it’s probably painful. “oh my god, five, how?” she asks, taking his elbow and examining closer. 

“fell.” he winces when she prods it lightly. 

allison cleans it up with alcohol pads and some neosporin before wrapping it up in gauze. she’s so used to doing this with claire that without thinking she leans down and places a soft tender kiss atop the bandage and says, “all better now.”

when she looks up to apologize-she hadn’t meant to do that-five’s face is tear stained. “oh honey,” she pulls him in close and lets him rest his head on her shoulder and cry against her neck. “it’s ok, you’re ok. i’m right here baby.” she’d had her suspicions, that he might be a “little”, of course, but the confirmation makes her heart ache for five. 

most people didn’t realize their designation until their late teens, even early twenties-she, luther and ben were all nulls, which meant they didn’t fall at either end of the spectrum. vanya and klaus had both classified as caretakers, which meant they had a greater affinity when it came to dealing with littles. five had gone missing long before he’d discovered his designation. she wonders how long he’s known. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: Little five sneaking into his siblings bedroom at night? (he’s not even subtle, just climbs right all over them)

he wakes up from a bad dream and its dark in the room-it’s maybe three in the morning and when he’s in his “big” headspace five is too stubborn to turn his night light on before going to bed 

so little!five has to wake up from a nightmare in the dark and he sits up in bed sniffling and trying not to cry out loud before deciding this ‘being brave’ thing isn’t working. he stumbles out of bed, draping his blanket around him. he blinks right into diego’s room and crawls onto his bed without any hesitance, climbing up and across his legs and squirming to get under his covers, pressing himself against his side for warmth. 

diego’s normally a pretty light sleeper, always on the alert-but he’s so used to these nightly occurrences since he moved back into the academy that he only stirs a little, groaning and moving a bit to give five more room on the bed. he throws an arm over fives huddled form and sleepily pats his head. “you ok, kid?” 

five nods against his chest and sighs softly. 

“wanna talk ‘bout it?” 

“nuh uh.” 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: I just saw the little!Five headcannons and I’m in love!!! I would love to see some more!

on the fourth of july when fireworks are going off every five minutes on the dot, all around their neighborhood, five is trying so damn hard to stay “big” and not go into his headspace. but every time another one goes off, it pushes him closer to the edge. everyone is down in the courtyard celebrating with a BBQ, having a grand old time, but he can’t stand it. he lies and says he has a headache, an excuse to go back inside and hide away. 

klaus finds five in the kitchen waiting for his coffee to percolate. five glances back at him over his shoulder. “this pot’s mine.” 

klaus makes a crack about that not being the kinda “pot” he’d want anyway, and then sighs, “I’m just a little jittery,” he admits. “all the fireworks, ya’ know? they’re nice to look at and all, but all I can think about is the war.” he shudders. 

five nods solemnly-he can relate. 

that’s when some kids on the street throw firecrackers on the ground, producing a series of boisterous bangs! klaus cringes at the noise, turns to five to complain and commiserate when he suddenly has an armful of five pressed up against his chest. “five?” he asks, confused until he feels the kid start to tremble something awful. “ah shit, it’s ok little buddy, it’s gonna be alright, I promise, I’m right here, ok? not going anywhere.” 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: little!five being carried by luther🥺🥺

five gets sick one day and he’s a stubborn little son of a gun so even tho it’s SO OBVIOUS he’s got a hell of a cold, he refuses to even acknowledge it or even take any medicine for it-he lived through the apocalypse for shits sake, one nasty little cold isn’t gonna kill him, he reasons

he ends up falling asleep in the middle of the day on the couch in the living room, half way through some trashy romance novel (i hc he reads them and self inserts himself and delores bc i can lmao) and luther finds him there and sighs, rolling his eyes and nudging him awake, “Five, take some robitussin already and go sleep upstairs in your actual bed.” 

five wakes up in his “little” headspace with a congested nose, a headache, a sore throat, and possibly a fever, too. his first instinct is to raise his arms in the air and wait to get picked up. 

luther freezes for a moment (he’s not great at dealing with littles, he never has been!) before ultimately giving in and taking five into his arms. five clings to him like a little spider monkey, wrapping his arms around luthers neck and resting his chin against his massive shoulder. “I don’t feel so good.” he complains softly, sniffling. 

and luther finally gets some medicine into the kid, except that the moment he tries to put five down in order to measure out the liquid medicine five starts whining and begging to be picked up again, and so luther does everything one handed for the rest of the day, just carrying five around the house, even long after he’s fallen asleep in his arms he doesn’t put him down (he tries to, of course, but five wakes up groggily and looks at luther like he might cry and luther picks him back up almost immediately!) 

the rest of the hargreeves find luther asleep on the couch with the tv on low, with five curled up against his chest snoring quietly. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ASK: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE more little five hcs (or anything else you will give us about him)!!!!!!!

Little!five likes his marshmallow peanut butter sammiches cut into tiny triangles-it’s just more fun to eat that way!-and most of his siblings know this and are more than happy to oblige 

_except_ maybe one day diego’s in a shit mood (bad day dealing with the precinct! those bastards took one of his collars again) and little!five who made his very own sandwich, all by himself (he’s actually quite proud of himself), asks diego to cut it for him 

and diego snaps at him without thinking, says something like “jesus christ five, grow up, just eat the damn sandwich, its fine like that” and shoves it back at him and five quells the urge to cry and hops up on the counter even tho vanyas told him a million time not to get up there when he’s feeling “little” bc it’s dangerous! 

he grabs a knife from the sink and tries to cut it himself but he’s clumsy and can’t handle the utensil as well as “big” him is able to, so inevitably, he ends up slicing his finger pretty badly! 

it hurts a ton but five’s more afraid of getting caught using a knife when he _knows_ he’s not allowed so he hops off the counter and runs to his room to hide the injury and it’s only when diego walks back into the kitchen, feeling bad about having been an ass and sees the sandwich on the counter, plus a knife and an alarming amount of blood next to the sink that he realizes what’s happened 

diego rushes upstairs, finds five in the bathroom desperately trying to stop the bleeding with way too much toilet paper and he startles when he gets caught and bursts into tears and holy shit does diego feel guilty af, he scoops five up into his arms and murmurs soft reassurances that it’s gonna be alright and that he’s sorry for being so rough earlier and he cradles him until fives sobs turn to quiet sniffles 


	10. Chapter 10

Five wakes up feeling very little-which isn’t an oddity or anything like that, not anymore at least-but he’s really truly never felt as little as he does today. He tries to get up from his bed only to realize his legs aren’t quite on board with that idea. He wobbles a lot before ultimately falling flat on his butt. 

It doesn’t actually hurt but it does startle him into letting out a loud wail of a cry. One that brings every single one of his siblings into his room almost immediately. 

“Five?!” Allison is the first to reach him. She bends down on both knees and checks him over, her motherly instincts going into hyperdrive as he cries big fat tears. “Baby, what’s the matter?” 

Five throws his arms up instead of responding-Allison scoops him up in a hug and gives him little eskimo kisses to make him feel better. Five scrunches up his nose and makes little noises in the back of his throat none of the siblings have ever heard him make before. They’re definitely happy noises, though. 

Klaus comes over and runs a hand through the littles messy bedhead. “You feeling better, honey bunch?” 

Five leans into the touch and babbles gleefully. 

All of the Hargreeves stare at one another and then at Five in awe. “Oh my God, is he like, _baby_ baby right now?” Klaus gasps dramatically. “ _OhmyGod_ let me hold the baby right this instant or I will die, Allison! Just absolutely die!” 

Luther’s expecting Allison to roll her eyes and give into Klaus’ dramatics, so he’s surprised when instead she shakes her head and holds Five all the tighter, making him let out a tiny squeak. “Nuh uh.” she peppers Fives face and head with more kisses, making him giggle excitedly by all of the attention. “Baby Five is _mine_. Isn’t that right, honey?” she cooes, her heart melting when Five cuddles closer. 

Klaus whines. “No fair! I want a turn!” 

Diego steps further into the room and declares: “Screw that, I’m next!” 

Vanya folds her arms across her chest. “How’s that fair? I wanna be next.” 

Luther chuckles. “You know while you’re all here arguing Allison’s sneaking away with the baby, right?” 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> pls luther toddler carrying five and swaying gently to soft classical music to calm him down after a breakdown

vanya has a concert-she’s made first chair!-and she invites everyone to come and watch her play, she’s very nervous about it, “you guys dont have to come, it’s not a big deal” she tries to downplay it, but everyone knows how important this is to her and they’re happy to go. 

five even marks it down on his calendar but when the day comes he’s got a hell of a migraine and every fragment of light entering his cornea is the enemy and must be avoided at all costs! except that he can’t exactly avoid it if he wants to go to the concert bc the stage is a plethora of way too bright lights and even the stupid little beady lights lining the carpeted stairs make him want to claw his eyeballs out. 

he chooses to sit at the end of the aisle, next to luther, and he tries his best to grit his teeth and bare it-just one more act, he thinks, one more act and his sister will be up there playing and the sound of her violin has always had the power to calm him down. 

except that the next act is so goddamn loud, instruments thrashing and drums being banged on stage and the lights are flashing at the audience and it hurts so bad five could actually cry

luther notices his plight and gently nudges him. “You ok?”

five doesn’t even look up at him, eyes closed tight, he just shakes his head, “Hurts.” he mutters, and he sounds so small

luther doesn’t hesitate, he gives Klaus, who’s next to him, mostly distracted by the concert, an excuse about having to go to the bathroom, and lifts five up from his seat and makes his way up the stairs and to the exit. 

the corridor is dimly lit and there isn’t a single soul crawling about and though they can still hear faint sounds of the concert going on inside the noise is way more bearable out here, and five lets out an audible sigh of relief, only it sounds more like a sob, and luther shushes him softly and rubs a hand across his back, hoping to sooth him. 

five actually does cry then, out of frustration, mostly. he’s going to miss vanyas concert, all because of this stupid pounding in his skull that won’t let up. he clings to luther like a toddler, seeking comfort, his little chest heaving, his tears staining luthers nice dress shirt. 

“it’s ok,” luther assures him, his voice quiet. and then it’s vanyas turn to play and the music is absolutely mesmerizing, luther rocks five to the beat, swaying back and forth, tender in the way he brushes the hair at the back of fives head-it feels nice. 

after a little while five mumbles, “Can we go back in now? I wanna see Vee.” his cheek still pressed up against luthers shoulder. 

“of course, you want me to put you down?” luther is so sure he’s going to say yes and shove away from him and pretend none of this ever happened but he’s surprised when instead five shakes his head, his hands gripping at his shirt a little tighter. 

luther carries five back inside and they stay standing near the back, so as not to disturb others, and five lifts his head slightly and turns to watch vanya play and he’s so glad they didn’t miss all of it. 


End file.
